HOUSTON COUNTY, Ga. — Inside the cosmetology classroom at the Houston County Career Academy, students put the finishing touches on one special final project before summer break.
Between the hair brushes and the hot rollers, they added curls to wigs they made from scratch.
Their teacher, Shalah Scott, suggested crafting the hair pieces after another teacher asked her for help.
"She said, 'I have cancer. I've taken chemotherapy and I'm going to lose my hair.' She said it's not a question of if, it's a question of when," said Scott.
So, Scott asked her students if they'd be interested in helping Joanna Silvester -- who was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in February.
"I said we can't do anything about the cancer and we can't do anything to make her feel better physically, but we can give her some dignity," said Scott.
For about five days, the students worked during and after school creating three wigs to help Mrs. Silvester feel beautiful.
"Although hair doesn't define us, it does express us as a person," said student Kyla Walker.
During the last week of school, the students presented Silvester with their final products.
"It means everything. This is amazing," said Silvester. "This is something they didn't have to do. They didn't have to do this."
But Silvester says this story isn't about her, it's about the kindness and generosity of these kids who went above and beyond to help a nearly perfect stranger.
"When your hair is pretty and your nails are done, you just feel on top of the world, so we just really enjoyed making someone feel like that," said student Markayla Oats.
Silvester says her daughter is graduating this weekend and she's planning to wear one of her new wigs to the special occasion.
She has four more rounds of chemotherapy to complete her cancer treatment.
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